Missourinet, June 26, 2014Â
Senator Claire McCaskillâs Consumer Affairs Committee is going to investigate billing practices of the cable and satellite television industry.
Sheâs asking customers to send their horror stories to her as part of her committeeâs look into possible âtruth in billing practicesâ legislation. She says some of the practices are unfair to consumers and need to be cleaned up. In fact, she says, sheâs a victim.
âYouâve got a ten dollar charge on your bill and when you call in, you find out what youâve been charged ten dollars for is now standard. This happened to me. They were charging ten dollars for a certain speed of internet. Well, I call in and I find out thatâs the standard speed now. And I said, âWhen were you going to quit charging me the ten dollars?â and they said, âWhen you called in.ââ
She says consumers should not have to put up with stuff like that. She says cable and satellite TV companies make a lot of money by continuing to bill people for something that is now free. She also wants to look at the tier system that makes customers pay for a lot of channels they donât want.\
McCaskill says she doesnât want government to interfere with a healthy and competitive market place, but she says there clearly are some questionable practices in the industry.